Cause of Death by Laura Dembowski (sci fi books to read .TXT) 📕

“Did you find anything?” I press.

“I did not. But your victim here didn’t die from hanging; she was suffocated. She definitely did not kill herself.”

My mouth gapes open. I thought drugs might have been present in her system, but I hadn’t expected to hear she’d been suffocated. It would be awfully hard to hang yourself after suffocating to death.

“How was she suffocated?” I ask.

“I can’t say for certain, but I found trace amounts of a fine cotton in her teeth. Could have been a pillow. But that could also be coincidence. A plastic bag would have done the job as well.”

“So . . . ,” I say, wanting more information.

“So you need to figure out who wanted this girl dead.”

“I already have an idea,” Kate says.

“Good luck,” Bob says. “If I can be of any further assistance, let me know.”

We thank him, and then head off to discuss the case and figure out our next step.

“My money’s on Margaret Moore,” I say.

“I’m not so sure. It could have been Dave. It’s often not who you think it will be,” Kate replies.

“Except when it is,” I say.

“We need DNA from her parents,” Kate adds. “Whoever’s DNA is under Lana’s nails is probably our culprit.”

“Think they’re going to be cooperative?” I ask.

“We’ll just get a warrant if they aren’t,” Kate says.

We talk a lot about Tracy as we drive over to the Moores’ house. I still haven’t told Kate everything. You know, that Tracy’s blackmailing me, or that she hates me but still wants to marry me, or that I’m still sleeping with Beth—the fact that I’m sleeping with Beth at all. I keep telling myself that I need to break things off with Beth, but seeing as Tracy and I aren’t getting along so well, and I can’t escape from her, I need an outlet.

“Why don’t you break up with her before you get married?” Kate says, driving a little too fast down the highway. We just finished talking about last night’s dinner. Tracy cooked, and it actually tasted good, once I convinced myself it was safe to eat and I wouldn’t wake up tied to a chair in the basement. No, the real problem had been our conversation.

I’d asked Tracy to stop having me tailed, since all of my secrets are already out in the open. She agreed. Yesterday, I saw the guy tailing me again. The irony of seeing him now that I know he’s following me is not lost on me. I confronted Tracy about it because I wanted to know what she’d say. If she’d squirm in her seat and deny it, or give me another one of her evil smiles, something I’m getting rather used to, and gleefully admit it.

Her response was somewhere in between. She squirmed a little and seemed to think about denying it, but in the end, she owned up to it.

“I had to see if you were up to anything else I don’t approve of. You know, drugs, prostitutes. I really hope you’re not a dirty cop. I mean, not that it would really affect me, but it would just bum me out.” She looked at me, her head tilted, an annoying look on her face.

“I’m not a dirty cop,” I said.

“See, I used to believe that,” she retorted. “That those investigations were bogus and just something that happen to cops. But I used to believe you’d never cheat on me either, especially with someone involved in one of your cases, which kind of feels like ‘dirty cop’ to me.”

She twirled her hair around her finger a few times, turning me on. I want to hate Tracy, but she’s so sexy and I’ve loved her for so long that I can’t. I just can’t.

“So what are you going to do with the information your bullshit PI is providing you, assuming you actually think it’s true and not something I led him to believe?”

Once I spotted the asshole, I confronted him and told him to fuck off. He didn’t, so I ditched him before ever visiting Beth. I’ve learned a few things in my day.

“Well, if you’re making yourself look worse than the truth, that’s your problem.” She paused to take a bite of the lemon chicken she’d made. She chewed thoroughly, then continued. “I haven’t decided how to use my knowledge yet. Maybe I’ll anonymously send it to your sergeant. Or maybe I’ll keep it to myself. It does piss me off you’ve still been seeing that lady. She’s hot and all, and I get that suburban housewife thing, but I’m all that and more, baby.”

She got up from her chair and walked over to me, sitting on my lap and ruffling my hair. She kissed my cheek, then my lips. Then my neck. And I let her.

“Let me be your everything,” she said.

I enjoyed it; I didn’t want her to stop, but at the same time I felt like the deeper we got into this mess, the less likely I would be able to come out okay on the other side. Tracy has become the most dangerously unpredictable person I have ever known in my entire life. Maybe unpredictability is sexy.

“I can’t break up with Tracy,” I say to Kate in the car, knowing breaking up with her would just make this whole situation worse.

“You can’t?”

“It’s complicated.”

“Uncomplicate it.”

“I don’t think that’s a word,” I say.

“I don’t care if it’s a word. Don’t change the subject.”

“I always thought I’d end up with Tracy, and I still love her, even if she is kind of nuts.”

“Bad news,” Kate says. “We’re all nuts. Every single one of us. But there’s a difference between using-too-much-hand-sanitizer nuts and kill-you-in-your-sleep nuts. You don’t think Tracy’s gonna kill you in your sleep, do you?”

I pause too long. Kate pulls the car over.

“We have to get to the Moores’ house,” I say in protest.

“We have time. Do. You. Think. Tracy. Is. Going. To. Kill. You? It’s an easy question.”

“No, of course not,” I say, not